Radnor High's mascot name-change decision deserves high-fives

If we could, we would fill all the seats at Lincoln Financial Field and the Citizens Bank Park and get those in attendance to do a spirited version of the “wave” in appreciation and applause for the decision by officials with Radnor High School in neighboring Delaware County to “graduate” the school’s athletic mascot.

The Radnor Raider was portrayed as a Native American man with comical, and offensive, war paint and feathers. Principal Mark Schellenger told members of the school board that there had been a teaching moment in the school when a visiting sociology professor from Villanova University came to speak to the student body about the cultural insensitivity of having such a person as a mascot for the football and basketball teams, among others. Although the Radnor teams will still be known as the Raiders, they will not be portrayed on the sidelines of the field as a Native American.

Now, perhaps it is time for our schools in Chester County who have long been known by these ethically offensive names to follow suit.

Schellenger said the decision to end the mascot’s tenure was “a great example of student involvement.” Student representative Addison Hanson said, ”The student body doesn’t emphasize the ethnic nature of the Raider symbol, the character of the Native American head, the spirit of the Native American, someone who lives on the land and is a fierce person. (However) none of the students would feel comfortable if we changed the name of the Raiders. To change that would be a detriment.”

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Board member Lydia Solomon agreed. “We’re not saying we’re the Radnor Native Americans,” with images of people accustomed to the land and proud of their culture and heritage. “We’re saying Raiders, somebody coming in plundering and killing.”

The issue of having sports teams named after old-world images of Native Americans has roiled the world of athletics on and off over the years, but the decision made by those at Radnor High seems to cut the cloth just right. Those who feel pride in the “Raider tradition” can maintain those feelings. Those who see the racial stereotyping prevalent in such names can take comfort that they no longer are confronted with images that offend.